Tag: motherhoodrising

Accidents in the home are the primary cause of death in U.S. children. By taking a few simple precautions, these injuries can be avoided, making your home safe for your child and the children who visit it.

In your kitchen, you should be sure to install safety latches on cabinets and drawers. This helps keep them out of the everyday household chemicals you use to clean your home and dishware with, and also keeps them from grabbing sharp objects like scissors or knives from inside the drawers. Use the back burners when cooking on the stovetop, and keep the handles of your pots and pans turned out of a curious child’s reach while cooking.

Safety latches should be installed on cabinets and drawers in your bathrooms as well to keep them out of unsafe household cleaning products and medicines. Be sure to unplug any electrical appliance such as a blow dryer or curling iron directly after use and put out of a child’s reach. Teach them early that electricity and water do not mix and that no electrical appliances of any kind should ever be immersed in or placed under running water. Toilet locks should also be used in homes that have small children to keep lids down. Young children are ‘top heavy’ and can easily fall into a toilet if they lean in to play in it. Since a young child can drown in less than just an inch of water, it is imperative to closely supervise them in the bathroom at all times.

Around your house, be sure to secure furniture such as bookshelves and heavy furniture that could tip easily to the wall using brackets. Use doorknob covers to keep them out of rooms with potential hazards and to keep them from leaving the house unsupervised. Make sure your window blinds do not have looped cords on them as they can present a strangulation hazard to a young child. And always cover your electrical outlets with protective covers to keep small fingers from them and small objects from being inserted into them.

Check your house over carefully for other potential hazards and address them immediately. With these precautions and some common sense, your household will be your child’s haven.

Parenting is definitely overwhelming. Although it is generally happy and fulfilling, it can also be toxic and exhausting at times. When things are not going well such as when our kids fail to listen to us or when they behave in a nasty way, we can have the tendency to yell at them. Is it normal? Or is it even acceptable?

Most moms and dads regret it when they suddenly and unintentionally shout at their children. But no matter how much they want to stop themselves from doing such, they admit that yelling seems to be a natural response.

I understand this sentiment. There are just times when our kids could easily bring out the unexpected beasts in our supposedly soft and loving hearts. But as much as possible, we don’t want this to happen. We want to continually be our children’s protector, nurturer, and safe refuge.

Not shouting at our kids is essential in making them grow mentally healthy and emotionally secure. Studies even point to the ineffectiveness of shouting in disciplining our children. When we yell at them, we do not address the main cause of misbehavior since they won’t usually be receptive to explanations during moments of distress.

To help you prevent from shouting at your children, I have compiled six of the best ways that you can use to make sure that you enforce positive discipline:

1. Identify what triggers your shouting.

In order to address the problem which is yelling, then we also need to know the cause of your response. Look back at the times that you have yelled at your children. Was it because of certain misconduct? Then go the extra mile in order to prevent such misbehavior. If your children usually mess up during meal times, why don’t you start teaching them table manners according to their age? If you have a toddler, then you could set up paper floor mats that could catch the dirt as she feeds. Do whatever it takes to prevent your triggers from arising.

2. Make your commands doable and easily understandable.

Your children surely have not fully matured yet, right? Then you must work on the instructions that you give them. If you want them to clean the living room, then be specific with your orders and give them one at a time. Ask them to pick up the scattered toys first, then only after that shall you order them to put the toys in the ottoman or do other things related to it. Do not bombard them with a lot of orders because they will surely fail you at some point in time and that could just cause your emotions to rise again.

3. Offer warning signs to generate teamwork.

Be able to communicate to your children that you might be at the brink of a disastrous response and that you don’t want to reach that point. It would be nice if you could directly tell them that you are already losing patience and that you may now be triggered to shout. Such warning signs, when communicated peacefully, can generate teamwork because children would most likely rather prevent you from losing your cool than do otherwise.

4. Set realistic standards.

Your kid is not an adult; thus, you cannot expect her to be behaving like an ultra-disciplined adult who has been trained to follow all orders without room for mistakes. If you have a toddler, then don’t expect her to be eating mess-free. If you have an infant who keeps on crying at night, then don’t get mad at her for keeping you awake. After all, our expectations usually set the foundations for our behavioral responses.

5. Reflect on your day and your life.

Have you had a bad day? Has it been months since you last had your own time for yourself at the salon or a coffee shop? Have you been feeling anxious because of career disappointments? It is important to examine yourself most especially when you have been delivering not-so-acceptable behavior towards the people around you. Be able to know how to address your own frustrations so that you can also live peacefully with your children.

6. Practice. Practice. Practice.

Yes, it can be hard. Even when you become intentional in changing yourself, your child, and the circumstances, you could still suddenly yell at your child when certain situations happen. If ever you fail, do not ever think that it is the end of your journey to positive discipline. It could take time and a great deal of effort. Keep on practicing. But whenever you fail, do not forget to make a personal apology to your child about what you have done. Let her know that you are capable of asking forgiveness and that you need her help to remove the yelling tendencies.

Imagine how much better a place the world would be if we all dream like kids again. If we are able to embrace our every passion and believe that anything and everything is possible and options for the future are limited only by our imagination.

Now when the tables have turned and I see that free spirit in my child I want to keep that will power and mood to inspire him/her to realise and make these dreams to come true.

1. Be a dream role-model

Grownups have dreams too! Share them with your kids. Or be open about what you dreamed of becoming as a child, and discuss why it didn’t, or possibly did, happen. They will gain bravery in their own dreams when they see you chasing yours, celebrating your successes and bouncing back from your challenges.

2. Make time for creative play

Remind them that they can be anything they want when they grow up via role play games: a dentist, a teacher, a scientist, a doctor, an author. Have an honest talk about all of the hard work their dreams will require while letting them know that they are 100 percent capable of achieving their wildest dreams!

3. Be inspired by other big dreamers

Your children can learn from the world’s top scientists, musicians, entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, and be inspired by their stories. They can also learn from inspiring people in your family and community.

4. Creating a Dream Diary or Board

Dream diaries or boards are incredibly useful and inspirational when making your own. By representing your goals with pictures and images you will actually build up and stimulate your emotions because your mind responds strongly to visual stimulation, and your emotions are the vibrational energy that activates the Law of Attraction. Your kid would love the idea of drawing his/her dreams, ideas and imagining the future.

5. Set them up for success

Success is inspiring, especially for children. Help them to experience success with their initial goals and dreams so that they are motivated to keep going.

6. Address challenges and failures

Young people need to learn that challenges and mistakes are normal. What’s important is how they approach them. They need to:

Believe it’s possible.

Put in the effort.

Stay determined.

7. Read books

Reading quality books foster kids imagination, enriches the vocabulary and can throw open a window to the world. The fantastic stories and expansive ideas in books can feed a child’s imagination to open up great possibilities. Choose books that encourage your kids to think beyond their size and dream big.

8. Encouraging curiosity in kids

A vital element in education and in life is curiosity that drives us to learn new things and discover how things work around us. While there are various ways to stimulate our curiosity, it is crucial that we instill this in our children from young.

9. Inspire them

Feed your kids imaginations! Take them to museums, travel with them, read books, explore with them. Let them know what’s out there, help them discover what is possible.

10. Dream together

They will gain courage in their own dreams, when they see you chasing yours, celebrating your successes and bouncing back from your challenges. Dreaming as a family also helps kids look beyond themselves and work as a team.